Med: ANSA seminar onItaly, the Mediterranean and information

In Rome, for Aman's 21st general assembly

(ANSAmed) - ROME, 27 JUNE - The role of Italy and of the Italian
regions that are most closely intertwined with the Mediterranean
Sea and its Southern Coast in the framework of considerable
social and political changes and related challenges for the
world of information. This key topic has been the focus of a day
of seminars organised by ANSA in Rome on the occasion of the
21st General Assembly of Aman, the Alliance of Mediterranean
Press Agencies.

"Italy for the Mediterranean region - information and
development" was the theme of the day. Seminars took place in
Farnesina and the Gregorian University. Works were inaugurated
by the President of ANSA, Giulio Anselmi, who will take on the
rotating presidency of the AMAN tomorrow, when he will replace
the current president, General Director of the MAP Agency,
Khalil Hachimi Idrissi. "The Mediterranean reflects many of
today's problems," Anselmi said,"on its Northern coast, Greece,
Spain and Italy are struggling with problems which go far beyond
the Eurozone and encompass social issues and welfare. Not only
the Mediterranean area, but the whole world is affected by the
consequences of these problems. The crisis we call Arab Spring
did not end with a happy summer: many areas of North Africa and
the Middle East are still on fire, there is no rest for some
parts of the region."
"The Arab Spring brought about dramatic confrontation between
the new and the old world of information. It unveiled our
strengths and weaknesses, our credibility, our quickness to
react; sometimes, we even lost to Twitter. Italy resumed its
role of linking chain between the North and the South, after
having closed into itself for some time. And ANSA, which has the
widest network of correspondents abroad, pursues a development
policy which led us to invite you all here, in order to debate
today's issues and exchange views on our work."
Libya has returned to the Aman appointment for the first time
since 2003, as the Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Carlo Schillaci pointed out. Schillaci gave the
public a "warm" welcome on behalf of the Minister Giulio Terzi;
although " the Minister would have loved to be here today", he
is currently on a mission in Lebanon. Furthermore, Schillaci
stated that "knowing each other better means favouring
stability, thanks to the network of Mediterranean journalists, a
very fertile ground."
Besides the 19 directors and top managers of the
Mediterranean press agencies members of Aman, the morning
session saw the speeches by the Presidents of the Lazio,
Campania and Calabria regions, who explained the relations of
their respective regions with the Mediterranean area and their
perspectives. Renata Polverini, the Governor of the Region
Lazio, emphasized the vital role of "accurate and correct
information", whose goal is to allow regions on both coasts to
get to know their neighbours better and to favour exchanges.
"Local authorities often convey the impression that they view
international activities as a waste of public money" Polverini
pointed out, "On the contrary interacting with the Regions and
enterprises of the world in order to support development is
crucial, now more than ever." Stefano Caldoro, the president of
the Campania Region, explained that Naples "has its eyes on the
Mediterranean, because this is the place where the opportunities
to grow and produce wealth are. We need to build a basin where
growth is possible, we need a European policy which must focus
on this area too, not only to the North."
Giuseppe Scopelliti, the Governor of Calabria, urged Italy to
abandon its approach focused on emergencies. "I have the
impression that in this period of crisis Italy is affected by
the so-called syndrome of the South, that is, the whole country
reacts in the way its southern regions are used to react: taking
into consideration only the emergency phase, without thinking
about the future." "Politics must look beyond emergencies and
think about the future", Scopelliti added, "and look beyond
national borders. There is plenty of opportunities to be
developed, especially in the South of the Mediterranean basin."
In the afternoon, works resumed in the Gregorian University,
where the ANSA CEO Giuseppe Cerbone introduced and coordinated a
panel focusing on economic issues.
"Information," Cerbone pointed out," is a crucial pre-requisite"
allowing us to keep on walking the road to development of
Italian enterprises in the region, "a clear, transparent
information" gives enterprises the trust they need to carry out
investments.
The second round table of the afternoon, the one on information,
hosted prominent Italian journalists specialised in the
"southern coast" of the Mediterranean: Luigi Contu, ANSA's
Director, stressed "ANSA's commitment to the ANSAmed programme:
we continue to believe in it, in spite of the crisis which is
affecting the publishing sector." (ANSAmed).